Three-letter airport codes are part of the alphabet soup of travel, and while some are glaringly obvious others are completely cryptic. So what’s really in an airport code? Let’s start with some homegrown examples…

Earning and redeeming points

… between Melbourne and London, Platinum frequent flyers on Qantas would earn 21,032 points, while the yield on Qatar plummets to a miserable 2,672 points. That’s right: almost one-tenth the number of points!

To put this in perspective: you could earn more points flying with Qantas from Melbourne to Perth than you’d earn jetting from Melbourne to London on oneworld’s latest member airline!

New redemption rates for United Airlines’ Mileage Plus frequent flyer scheme pack some good news for Australian travellers.

While the changes generally see United’s core membership of US residents lose out through a massive hike in redemption rates, trips from Australia to most of Asia using United’s Star Alliance partners such as Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways are now substantially cheaper than before, even in first class…

Travel tricks

While the Qantas Frequent Flyer program has shied away from offering Lifetime Platinum status, there’s still a way to lock-in lifelong access to top-grade benefits such as priority boarding and even the luxe Qantas First Class lounges…

Want to fly from Australia to Bangkok in Thai Airways’ first class cabin for $2,000? How about business class to Singapore with Singapore Airlines for around $1,600, or Sydney to New York for less than $4,000?